Ranking Rangers Rotation Entering Spring Training
So just how much did the Texas Rangers upgrade their starting rotation for the 2023 season? ESPN recently rated every potential starting rotation in Major League Baseball.
The Rangers came in No. 12 in the rankings.
ESPN used several criteria to rank the rotations (which can be referenced here). But the process started with ESPN identifying the eight likeliest starters for each team.
Those pitchers selected were Martin Perez, Jon Gray, Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Jake Odorizzi, Dane Dunning and Glenn Otto.
Importantly, ESPN gave the projected staff a No. 3 dominance ranking and a No. 11 consistency rank.
Per ESPN:
The White Sox were the big risers from other forecasts, while the Rangers were the big fallers. The method might have something to do with that. DeGrom is off-the-charts good when he gets on the mound. But when you get into a turn-by-turn look at the rest of the rotation, you see a solid, deep group that will help the Rangers move toward .500. It could do more than that if Perez is closer to what he was last season than what the forecasts think he's going to be this season.
The Rangers might have their deepest rotation ever, with deGrom as the ace. The Rangers had Jon Gray under contract and retained Pérez on a one-year deal. The Rangers traded for Odorizzi. They also signed Heaney and Eovaldi.
The Rangers will begin to get a sense of how the rotation will come together when pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training to the team’s facility in Surprise, Ariz., on Feb. 15, with position players to follow by Feb. 20.
The Spring Training game schedule starts on Feb. 24 with a game against Kansas City at the Surprise complex shared with the Royals.
The Rangers wrap up their exhibition season with a pair of games at Globe Life Field against the Royals on March 27 and 28. The Rangers open up the regular season at home against Philadelphia on March 30.
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